Six council seats were filled on Thursday, including a twin defence for the Tories and one each for Labour, the Lib Dems and Reform. Nottinghamshire was a key battleground, with three seats available.
Labour stood in all five of the contests south of the border, with mixed results. The Burnham bounce was evident in the Black Country and Cheshire, less so in Nottinghamshire. They lost a seat to Reform, but gained one from the same party - albeit by the slender margin of two votes. The downturn of the Greens continued, with the party collecting a wooden spoon in all four of the by-elections it fought.
There was much better news for Reform, who had been flagging of late with no wins or holds in six weeks going into this round. There was bitter disappointment in Dudley, where they lost a seat by two votes, but they unexpectedly gained two seats elsewhere.
Mid Argyll, Argyll and Bute Council
(first preference votes)
SNP: 820 (46.1%) +14.9%
LDm: 310 (17.4%) +14.1%
Con: 230 (12.9%) +1.3%
Ref: 151 (8.5%) New
Res: 124 (7.0%) New
ISP: 95 (5.3%) +2.9%
Ind: 50 (2.8%) New
SNP GAIN (elected at stage 5)
Triggered by the death of the 64-year-old incumbent, who passed away following a long cancer battle. He topped the poll on first preferences the last time this colossal ward was contested, back in 2022. Mid Argyll is by no means the largest council ward in Britain, but at 323 square miles it is 30 times larger than the average council ward and larger than many council authorities, such as Birmingham. Don't be surprised if this is the last result out of the bag on Friday. The ballot paper was a busy affair here in 2022, with nine candidates in total - four of which were independents. This Thursday there are seven candidates and just the one independent. Labour also dropped out this time, having finished fourth in 2022 with 157 votes. The downturn in candidates, in particular the 2022 winner, meant that all the parties increased their vote shares on Thursday. The SNP won the seat with more than twice the vote of the second placed Lib Dems. The sixth-placed party (ISP) are the seldom heard of Independence for Scotland Party.
Karl - SNP GAIN ✔
Rich - SNP GAIN ✔
Worksop East, Bassetlaw District Council
Ref: 600 (45.9%) New
Lab: 485 (37.1%) -34.4%
Res: 91 (7.0%) New
Con: 89 (6.8%) -21.7%
Grn: 42 (3.2%) New
Ref GAIN from Lab
Triggered by the resignation of the incumbent, who is also the Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw and a government minister. Jo White stood down as a councillor last month, citing conflicts of interest between her council role and her role as a Home Office minister. She was appointed a minister by Burnham in July, having been elected to Westminster in the 2024 general election. Bassetlaw has been under Labour control since 2011, but there haven't been a round of elections here since 2023 when Labour won all three seats in this ward in a head-to-head against the Conservatives. Reform had won the last four by-elections in Bassetlaw and sensationally made it five in a row on Thursday. A shocking result for the Uniparty, more so considering that Restore Britain also entered the contest and it did not result in a Labour hold.
Karl - Lab HOLD ✘
Rich - Lab HOLD ✘
St James's, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
Lab: 874 (38.0%) +16.2%
Ref: 872 (37.9%) -11.0%
Con: 317 (13.8%) -0.1%
Res: 159 (6.9%) New
Grn: 79 (3.4%) -7.2%
Lab GAIN from Ref
Triggered by the resignation of the incumbent, after just four months in office. He resigned due to a combination of 'personal and health-related' reasons, having easily unseated Labour in May with a majority of 903. However, it was the Tories who suffered the most at the hands of Reform in Dudley, losing outright control of the council in that election. They have continued in office as a minority administration. The losing Labour candidate in this central ward managed to regain her seat on Thursday after a nail-biting recount and the wafer thin margin of just two votes. Many will look to a swing from Reform to Restore as yet another example of a split vote on the right gifting victory to Labour. Two parties did not stand on Thursday - the Lib Dems (fourth in May with 130 votes) and the Trade Unionist Socialist Coalition (last with 30 votes).
Karl - Lab GAIN ✔
Rich - Ref HOLD ✘
Beechwood & Heath, Halton Borough Council
Ref: 750 (35.3%) -4.2%
LDm: 559 (26.3%) -18.3%
Lab: 535 (25.2%) New
Res: 134 (6.3%) New
Ind: 90 (4.2%) New
Con: 56 (2.6%) New
Ref GAIN from LDm
Triggered by the death of the incumbent, who was in her late 70s. She had served on the council continuously since 1997. She had last been re-elected in 2024, when Labour were runners-up. The most recent election here was back in May this year, when Labour did not stand and Reform surged into second spot behind her Lib Dem colleague. This suburban Runcorn ward was one of the few seats that Reform did not win at that election. They demolished Labour, but as only a third of seats were being filled, Labour maintained control of the council. Despite dropping slightly, both in terms of votes and vote share, Reform overtook the Lib Dems to win the seat. The absence of the Greens (third in May with 356 votes) and the Libertarian Party (last with 69 votes) did not help the Lib Dems.
Karl - LDm HOLD ✘
Rich - LDm HOLD ✘
Dover Beck, Newark and Sherwood District Council
Con: 409 (41.7%) -29.5%
Ref: 328 (33.5%) New
Lab: 148 (15.1%) -13.7%
LDm: 73 (7.4%) New
Grn: 22 (2.2%) New
Con HOLD
Thursday's second Notts contest was triggered by the death of the 70-year-old incumbent, following a lengthy cancer battle. He had served on the council since 2003, also serving concurrently on Nottinghamshire County Council since 2013 (triggering a separate by-election, see below). This rural ward was last contested in 2023, when the Tories emerged victorious in a head-to-head against Labour, receiving more than twice the Labour vote. The Conservatives lost control of the council in 2023 to no overall control and it has been run since by a chaotic minority coalition of Labour, Lib Dems and independents. There will be a full election here next May, despite plans to abolish the council in 2028 and absorb it into a new unitary authority for Nottinghamshire. Thursday's result saw a big swing from the Conservatives to Reform, but the defending party hung on. This ward falls in the Sherwood Forest constituency, a major target seat for Reform at the next general election, currently held by Labour's Michelle Welsh.
Karl - Con HOLD ✔
Rich - Con HOLD ✔
Southwell, Nottinghamshire County Council
Con: 2,019 (45.3%) +7.8%
Ref: 1,159 (26.0%) +1.8%
Lab: 646 (14.5%) +1.1%
LDm: 545 (12.2%) -7.5%
Grn: 88 (2.0%) -3.2%
Con HOLD
Triggered by the death of the incumbent, who was serving concurrently on Newark and Sherwood Council and triggered a separate by-election there (see above). Notts County Council was also previously held by the Conservatives, but a colossal shift to Reform in the 2025 local elections gave control to Farage's party. Reform gained a whopping 39 seats in that election, 19 of which were gains from the Conservatives. Most of these gains were in the north and west of the county, with Southwell lying to the east and remaining firmly in Tory hands. The Conservatives extended their lead here on Thursday, which will be of some concern to local MP Robert Jenrick, having jumped the Uniparty ship for Reform.
Karl - Con HOLD ✔
Rich - Con HOLD ✔
The one differential in their head-to-head predictions proved pivotal for Karl, who beat Richey by a single point to draw level overall. It was the fifth consecutive week that Karl has beaten Richey.
